NEC Unveils UC Portfolio For Enterprise, SMB

Last month, NEC Unified Solutions President Jeffrey Kane promised some drastic changes to the Irving, Texas-based vendor's lineup of communications offerings.

"The focus you'll see from us over the next couple of years is integration," he said.

Those changes, which include revamping the NEC's entire product line to focus more on interfaces and devices and less on backend infrastructure, were cemented Wednesday when NEC announced a host of new communications solutions for both the enterprise and SMB under its Univerge360 approach.

According to Kane, Univerge360 puts people in the center of communications when building a communications solution. The solutions are role-based, meaning once the users' roles are defined, NEC will build the communications tools to help meet the company's needs and add in specific elements of unified communications (UC) and integrate them into existing business processes.

One Tuesday, NEC released a new portfolio of business software for its Univerge SV7000 IP communications server and the new SV8500 enterprise server. Additionally, NEC launched a new line of modular IP and digital terminals, the Univerge DT700 and DT300 to support both enterprise and SMBs.

"There are many buzzwords in the industry today including unified communications, fixed mobile convergence and Voice over IP, but the fact remains that enterprises need to know how to integrate these communications into their business process based on the role of their employees," Kane said.

First among the enterprise solutions is the Univerge UC700 Desktop Client, combining UC functionality in a single application with click-to-dial and clipboard dialer, presence-based call routing, communication history information, voice, video and Web conferencing, white boarding, screen sharing, screen capture and screen pops for incoming messages. UC700 offers a consolidated message center interface that displaces voice messages, email, instant messages and fax messages in a single pane, Kane said.

NEC also unveiled the Univerge MC530 Mobile Client, which takes UC mobile, extending unified messaging from business IP communication systems to mobile devices. The Mobile Client software accesses VoIP application services for dial-mode Wi-Fi and cellular devices with a unified user experience in either mode. It ties the desk phone and mobile device together with one phone number, making a device a viable work tool in and outside of the office. The client also mobilizes presence through a GUI and supports devices running Microsoft Windows Mobile 5, Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and Symbian operating systems.

The Univerge UM8500 Unified Messaging System, which works with both the UC700 desktop and MC530 mobile clients, is a unified messaging solution that includes VideoMail, find me/follow me capability and ViewCall for desktop call control. UM8500 integrates with Microsoft Exchange Server allowing the system to read aloud a schedule of the day's activities up to one year in advance.

NEC also released the latest software, R24, for the Univerge SV7000 VoIP communications server, wrapping in new features and support, including unified communications; softphone; and opens standards that allows for SIP-enabled devices, LDAP-compliant databases, Java XML, 802.11 a/b/g WLAN and Power over Ethernet. NEC will launch its generation enterprise communications server, the Univerge SV8500 this summer.

Next: NEC Targets SMB